Wednesday, December 29, 2010

I didn't buy these Beanitos (my MIL was/is going through a flaxseed phase) for the kids but when they saw us munching on them they demanded a taste. They were a bit salty (the cheddar dusting on them) for me but my daughter loved them. My son not so much.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Another savory snack attempt. The kids break them open (garlic herb crackerfuls from Ritz) and eat the cracker without the garlic-herb filling. I don't think I will be buying anymore of these. Iam OK with the sugar and high fructose corn syrup in limited amounts but not sure about the high oleic canola/soybean oil, and partially hydrogenated cottonseed/soybean oil.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The kids are going through another I-dont-like-milk phase and even Iam sick of cheesesticks. I tried the regular cheese blintzes (forgot the brand) and the kids hated them (they smelled eggy-fishy.) These tofutti Mintz's Blintzeswere a big hit though. They do have more sugar (16 grams) and less protein (3 grams) than I like so the twins get them as dessert once in a while.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Yet another attempt at a savory snack. While I love mushrooms of any and all kinds, the twins have not warmed up to them yet. I really liked these mushroom turnovers from Trader Joe's but my son would not even touch them. My daughter after a lot of coaxing, took a teeny-tiny bite and put it aside declaring she was "all done."

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

One more savory snack the twins will eat if nothing else is offered. Actually these fire roasted tomato flavored wheat thin sticks from Nabisco have sugar, invert sugar and malt syrup. Still,they managed to keep the sugar to 4 grams for 14 pieces.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Aother line of snacks everyone loves and is good for them. Gnu fods bars have some organic ingredients and all of them contain their trademark high fiber blend - whole rolled oats, organic whole wheat flour, wheat bran, organic kamut, psyllium, flax and millet. They have no artificial preservatives or chemicals and most of them are sweetened with fruit juices.

My son loves the banana walnut and my daughter the chocolate brownie. They both walk around eating the lemon ginger bars declaring 'I don't like it, I don't like it." I haven't found any other flavors in the stores in my area yet.

I never thought I would ever be interested in any -of-the-month club, but Iam seiously considering their joy-of-fiber club.

Friday, December 17, 2010

One more juice from Genesis Today - not that I need to worry about the twins cardio-vascular health (they do not sit still for a minute) or healthy aging but it's never too early to start.

Resveratrol contains grape, apple, pear, black cherry, blueberry, pomegranite and cranberry. It is also chock full of vitamins and minerals and has 27 grams of sugar for an 8 ounce serving. The twins get it diluted with milk. They don't overly like it (like the orange omega) but they don't dislike it either.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

After buying BolthouseFarmsjuices for so long I decided to look around for their competitors products. Genesis Today juices come a close second - my only gripe is that their juices are reconstituted from concentrates and additional nutrients and flavors added (the DHA is from algal oil.) This omega orange has orange, apple, pear, acerola, goji and papaya. It has 90 calories for an 8 ounce serving and only 13 grams of sugar.

The twins get it diluted with milk and they love it. The first few times my son took to crying for more. I would cave in and fix him some more which would lead to a runny tummy. Now I am more firm about seconds or add more milk than juice and everyone is happy.

Monday, December 13, 2010

These Newtons fruit crisps from Nabisco are great. Each packet has 2 thin crispy bars with an even thin layer of filling. At 50 calories a piece and 4 grams sugar, this is the perfect dessert. They are happy with just 1 and I don't feel too guilty abut it.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The triple ginger in these cookies from back to Nature are crystallized ginger, ground ginger and ginger extract. They also have evaporated cane juice, sugar (in the crystallized ginger) and molasses. With 9 grams of sugar for 5 cookies I decided it wasn't too bad.

They could not believe it when amma put 3 (3 whole cookies!) cookies each in front of them. After a few suspicious nibbles they were on their way. But neither one asked for more.

Monday, December 6, 2010

These potato samosas from Deep foods are supposed to be deep fried. I cheat and bake them with a little cooking spray or tossed in olive oil. The twins get all excited about the 'saaamos' and then procced to peel off the outer layer and put the stuffing aside. I have tries spinach and cheese, chicken and lamb but in all cases its only the shell they like and eat. I hope Deep comes out with a whole wheat shell or something. Sigh!

Friday, December 3, 2010

My nutritionist (sis-in-law) recommended these 'real fruit bites' from Dole over the sugaryfruitsnacks that the twins developed a liking for.

They do have added sugar and are very different in look and texture from other fruit snacks. My son will run and hunt for them in the pantry if he finds the door open. My daughter eats them on somedays but rejects them on others.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The veggie crunchers here are sweet potato, taro, carrot, green beans and squash. These are cooked in a vacuum cooker and have oil and sea salt apart from dextrin from Tapioca.

Some vegatables are cut thicker than the others. So even though they are not chewy they tend to be hard for the kids to munch on. If I pre-sort the thinner ones the kids will happily finish them but if they run into a thick one they refuse to eat anymore.